In the Spotlight with Sandy Bigara – “Hinghams Nursery & Symmetry Duo” – Featured Durban Blog

Well, I have had an incredible two weeks! Exhausted can not describe… I’ve spent every available minute finishing up the script for my show “Zap & Buttons” that will be showcased at the Durban Children’s Theatre Festival October 6th – 11th (bookings on Computicket from the 15th September) Having so much fun prepping the costumes and tweaking the look of my characters… I have to remember to stop and breathe… eat, and drink coffee!

I had some fun this last week, designing and making the crowns and wings for my fairies for The Princess & The Frog that starts Dec 01st at The Catalina Theatre tickets are on sale. You can see the costumes, crowns and wings. I forget how many hours each piece can take to make!

This weekend was intense, on Friday I performed at Zacks Windermere with Steve Fataar (I managed to play O Mio Babbino on guitar and sing opera… never again people!) and then rushed off to The Catalina to host Late Night Comedy with The Stand Up Guys, Rowin Munsamy, Arno Els and Mark Young, followed by an Open Mic competition – won by a new-comer Venessa Morton, she blew us away and I’ll do an interview with her soon! On Sunday the Husband and I volunteered to help at a local book and antiques store ‘A Novel Idea’ assisting the new owners with setting up, so lovely lending a hand and supporting local businesses.

Now for the interesting bits! This Sunday I will be performing at ( Hingham Nursery Tea Garden www.facebook.com/Hinghamnurseryteagarden ) so, I popped in at the Tea Garden this morning to take some pictures, and I had a chance to interview the owners Danielle and Loura Venter – a Mother/Daughter team to be reckoned with!

We have a beautiful chilled out venue here, and at present we are working on building a sustainable following so that we can offer our muso’s a solid platform from which to gig successfully. We are strict about quality control and strive to make sure that our guests are happy and that they enjoy the live music we offer them. The venue is very peaceful and intimate, so it suits the more relaxed music styles. Sandy Bigara performs here on the second Sunday of every month from 1 – 3pm. People can book by calling 0768123886.

Thank you! Our favourite item on the menu is probably the Eggs Benedict made with a home-made Hollandaise sauce, and the most popular dish are the Cajun Chicken Strips, Bacon, Feta and Avo Salad as well as the Farmhouse Breakfast…

We are a Mother and Daughter team that work together very well, and one of us is always dealing with the clients. We are on first name basis with all of our regular customers as well as all of the doggies that come for a visit, the doggies get a scoop of ice cream on their birthdays. We also like to educate the people about our troop of mongoose that come past everyday.

We are busy putting up a roof in the play area to help with providing shade for our diners. We will also be fixing the roof over the restaurant area in the near future as well. We have recently built on a smoking area, and added a new bathroom near the restaurant that is totally wheelchair friendly.

And now for some local Musos! I was lucky enough to perform alongside Symmetry when they sang at Pick n Pay’s Taste Durban this year, I had a chance to catch up with this dynamic pair this week.

We are really excited about what we have achieved this year so far as a band, and are currently nurturing an EP in its infancy stages. Whilst we do enjoy our acoustic re-imaginings of popular covers (… because its Durban and covers pay the bills, for now) and have fun taking unexpected songs and making them work acoustically, our ultimate goal is to write and perform solely original music that you can’t help kicking off your shoes and dancing to – there is enough ‘emo’ stuff out there. We want to make South African audiences feel uplifted, positive and dare we say it – sexy…

We met by total serendipity at Live The Venue in March. We were fortunate to be able to hit the circuit as a duo early on – our weekends are usually booked up with gigs and rehearsals happen every day of the week except for Mondays when we try our best to refuel, take a break from late nights, switch off from social media and do absolutely nothing.

We are currently the resident band on Friday evenings at Hops Riverside in Durban North. This year we have frequented venues up the North Coast, Hillcrest and central Durban – and also performed at private functions, birthdays etc.

Music is a lifestyle choice for us. With career backgrounds in Project Management and PR, we run our band like a business, but are definitely not the kind of people to be chained to a desk.  We are both pretty passionate about being true to ourselves creatively, and the freedom we experience onstage and the pure hustle of trying to get our foot in the door in what can be a challenging industry (especially in Durban) is what keeps us fired up.

We update our Facebook page every couple of days. For access to our SoundCloud, YouTube channel, photos, press features and to check out where we’re playing next – please like (and share!) – www.facebook.com/symmetrysa

Our musical tastes and preferences are like chalk and cheese – but when we come together something magic happens – harmonies – and this is where we got the name “Symmetry”.  Our live performance is fun and upbeat – with everything from ‘50s rock and roll through to contemporary radio hits. We may even surprise you with favourites from the 80s/90s that you thought wouldn’t work on a guitar. Our original music is a combination of country, rock and soul and is evolving as we continue to write and create together.

Well worth supporting both Hingham’s and Symmetry – Local is Lekker!

Upcoming Events this weekend worth noting:

Zacks Windermere LIVE MUSIC hosted by Steve Fataar | every Friday | 7:30pm \ Free Entry order your meal off menu | bookings: 031 – 3120755 | Secure parking | Performance by select muso’s.

Sandy Bigara Live Music @ Hinghams Nursery Tea Garden | Every 2nd Sunday of the month 1pm – 3pm | R65 per person includes a Sunday Roast Lunch | bookings 0768123886 | Secure parking | Top of Clematis Grove, Glenhills, off Rinaldo Rd, off Chris Hani rd.

Next week I’ll be interviewing another incredible local muso on the Durban Music scene…

Till then, take care!

Sandy Bigara

East Coast Breakfast host, Darren Maule, hosted the five finalists this morning (29 August 2014) in the nail-biting finale but it was Kim who had the winning key that gave her access to the 15 prizes. 

She has won the following: 

Everyone who entered the Secret Stash competition on East Coast Radio via SMS, went into the draw for the chance to win everything that is in the stash. The competition ran on ECR from 11 to 29 August 2014.